My cucumber plants are starting to grow vines! I have a trellis set up in the raised bed and would like them to climb that rather than drape off the sides of the bed. I found it helps to gently hook the questing tendrils around the metal. I wrap the tendril around the post, then hook it back through the loop, like a knot, but not tightened.
I connected with a local alpaca farmer and picked up two fleeces that were not spin quality. One was second cuts (not prime fiber) and full of vegetable matter, the other she had washed vigorously and it felted.
I wanted them to run an experiment with mulching around my pumpkins, so I placed the “waste” fiber around the plants, not up against the stems, and watered them down.
Now the waiting and watching. My hope is that the fiber will felt into pads and block weed growth and provide protection from the dirt for any pumpkins that form.
Walking through TSC I saw onion sets and grabbed a bag on a whim.
I planted the onions around my pumpkin and cucumber plants. Some of the sets were dry and didn’t seem viable, but others were firm and a couple had some green already at the tip. Six days after planting I noticed a few of the onions were growing.
I’ve tried onions from seed with no luck. I was hoping the squirrels and other critters would leave onions alone, but I found one set excavated. I’m hoping to harvest some green onions when they are young. I don’t have much hope that there will be mature onions this winter.
The flower bed in the back yard where I put more of the Gregg’s mistflower filled dirt had sprouted the native flower, along with a bunch of oxalis.
I’m rather excited to see what happens with this terrace. We won’t mow it, but let the plants continue undisturbed. My hope is that this will be a good location for the mist flower and we will be able to see the clouds of butterflies from our kitchen window.
I planted pumpkins in the new flower beds by the coop and they are growing!
I have no illusions that these pumpkins will survive without some fencing. Well, the foliage might survive, but we have way too many critters afoot in the area for the actual fruit to ripen without being eaten. First, though, I will see how well they grow in this area, then I’ll puzzle out protection from wildlife.
Critters and Craft 